The Godfather, The Fretter and The Quibbler's Office
"You can't do it, Ron, it's physically impossible to do it!" Ila exclaimed.
"Ila, you're lack of faith in me is downright disturbing. How much time have you actually been spending with Hermione?"
"Enough to know that you'll choke Ron," Hermione scolded. "Don't do it."
Ron raised a brow at her before looking at Ila. "Do you agree Ila? I won't do it if you say no. It's all down to you."
Ila glanced at her two diametrically opposed expressions. Hermione was practically telling her to not give into him while Ron knew what she was going to say.
"Alright, go on," Ila said excitedly much to the disappointment of Hermione who stepped back as they watched Ron pour the entire bag of Fizzing Whizbees he had gotten from Honeydukes into his mouth. They were in the Three Broomsticks, which was buzzing from the added students of Hogwarts. A few of the regular customers griped with the new noise, but a stern word from Rosmerta softened them once again. After a few colourful expressions from Ron as he sucked on the sherberts, he closed his eyes and waited.
It came only a few seconds after. Ron was beginning to float out of his seat. Slowly but surely, Ron was getting further and further away from his chair. His legs had reached the table which was the usual height for taking a single sherbet, but Ron must have had at least ten. He kept moving and moving and moving…
Ila watched in awe as Ron had reached a dust window and waved down to them, yelling – "I'M THE TALLEST MAN IN THE WORLD!"
"How long until he stops?" Ila asked, suddenly regretful that she didn't take up his offer to eat them with him.
"Not for another" – Hermione measure the height from their seats – "ten metres I'd say. He'll probably hit his head on the ceiling."
"RONALD WEASLEY GET DOWN THIS INSTANT BEFORE I TELL YOUR MOTHER WHAT YOU'VE BEEN UP TO!" Rosmerta shouted her arms akimbo.
"Make sure you tell her everything," Fred jeered, as everyone turned around to see what the commotion was. Most people – the students mostly – clapped and cheered Ron, who was loving every single bit. Other people were trying to get him down by casting immobulus charms to stop him from moving. But every spell that came to him, he managed to dodge them, watching as they ricocheted off walls, tables, and paintings. Some even managed to hit people – a dancing curse bounced off the walls hitting a regular customer square in the chest. Within moments he moved around, his legs moving in a complicated pattern. Everyone roared with laughter, cheering him on. The ruddy-faced drinker was delighted with the newfound attention. He even pulled Rosemerta to dance with him during mid telling off.
"Oh c'mon Ron, we're going to be late if you don't hurry up!" Hermione shouted over the ballyhoo of the pub. Ila turned around to see a few more people getting roped in. Ila saw the twins as they and a few others skipped in a circle, singing a song about…specific characteristics about Veelas…
"I can't control it can I?" Ron shouted back. He was so high up, he tried to push himself away from the ceiling so that he didn't hit his head. "How long till they wear off?"
Hermione checked her watch. "Well, he took them at least 5 minutes ago. Each one lasts for about a minute or so and considering he took at least 15" – Hermione's face contorted with concentration she did the maths – "he'll have at least another ten minutes," she told Ila.
But as Hermione lifted her head –
"ARRGGGHHHHH!"
Hermione had gotten her calculations wrong. Or her timing. Either way, neither was going to save Ron from falling to his death. Everyone had stopped their dancing, apart from that customer who couldn't actually stop if he wanted to, to see Ron falling. Immediately, Fred and George ran over, holding their arms out to catch Ron, while Rosmerta was trying to find someone to do stop him from falling.
"Arresto Momentum!"
A bright blue flash blinded Ila momentarily but as she blinked away the dark spots, Ron was moving in slow motion. In fact, he was moving so slowly, Fred and George were starting to wonder if there was any point if they should hold their arms out, moving their arms up and down. As they were about to put their arms down, Ron landed…
On top of his brothers.
It seemed that while he was moving slower, it didn't hurt any less as the three boys groaned, trying to get up from the floor. Hermione and Ila helped the boys, trying to twist them out of their entangled state. Ila was also trying to find out who helped them. The most that she could see was the back of an old worn jacket and…
A wooden leg.
"Ow! That's my arm, Fred!" Ila yelled pulling Ron up to his feet.
"Sorry," Fred grimaced from the floor.
"Let's go, we'll be late if we don't go now," Hermione said, dragging the two out of the pub.
"Wait until your mother hears about this," Rosemerta shouted after them but did nothing to stop them. The rain hadn't let up since yesterday. With dark grey clouds rolling over the village, the orange mist from the street lamps had lit their path and it hadn't even hit noon. Streets were starting to flood, but that didn't stop any of the villagers. Ila saw many with long wellington boots and fishermen jumpsuits just to tackle the rain. The water was up to her knees when Ila had stepped out of the pub. They had spent the last half an hour trying to dry themselves up only for their hard work to be ruined.
"Don't you think we should get an umbrella or something?" Ila asked as they walked past a basket of free umbrellas to use.
"Ila," Hermione turned around, already drenched from the rain. Even with their boots on, jackets zipped up and hoods up, there was no use. Her hair already stuck to her face as she said, "do you really think those flimsy umbrellas are you going to make a difference?"
She didn't wait for an answer, instead, Hermione continued wading through the water. By the time the three were at the edge of the village, the rain was finally starting to slow down. The water wasn't as deep and Ila was starting to sweat.
"Are we nearly there?" Ron panted, trying to take his jacket off.
"Yeah," Hermione said, before pointing behind her. "That's the cave."
Ila narrowed her eyes, getting a sudden wave of déjà vu. When else did she have to walk up a giant unnecessary hill for no reason in the middle of a rainstorm?
"You've got to be fu - "
"I'm actually going to kill him," Ila breathed before collapsing on the ground at the entrance of the cave, letting the drop hit her. She didn't care at this point. Not after that…she couldn't even call it a hill. It was practically walking up a 90-degree cliffside. "I know I said that last year but I really do mean it this time."
"Why couldn't he just meet us in the Forbidden Forest," Ron said, sliding down against the cave wall.
Just as Ila was about to speak, they heard a –
"Was that a bark?" Hermione questioned, staring strangely at the darkness. Ila turned around, now lying on her stomach and narrowed her eyes, thinking it would help her to see better.
"Who's there?" Ila asked.
Yet again, another bark, echoing out of the cave. The bark sounded much more nefarious with the added barks bouncing off the walls. She quickly stood up, with Ron following her. She was about to use her wand when Hermione stopped her.
"We're outside Hogwarts – you can't," she explained.
"I thought you said he was going to be here," Ron said, his voice no louder than a whisper.
"He was – that was what he said," Ila whispered back, about to hand him the letter from her pocket – only to take it out and it was mush. "Well, he did say that."
"Maybe it was secret code. Surely it would have made more sense for him to stay at the Shrieking Shack?"
There was another bark, sounding more monstrous than the other. The three stepped back from the cave, looking at each other in concern.
"Let's go," Hermione said before Ila stopped her.
"Maybe Sirius is in there," Ila told her. "Maybe something happened to him while he was waiting for us."
"It's not our fault that someone thought it would be a good idea to eat a bunch of fizzing whizbees before this," she said, staring at Ron.
"Listen, when someone dares you, you can't back out," Ron protested over Ila's shoulder. "It's practically the rules."
"No it's not," Hermione replied fervently. "No one's forcing you. They don't have a wand to your head do they?"
"You wouldn't understand because you're so fucking boring."
"Will you two stop fucking arguing about everything and realise that Sirius might be in there getting eaten alive by some fucking dog?!" Ila exclaimed, one of her brows twitching out of her control. "Right," she said after a few moments, "get behind me."
Ron snorted. "You? You're practically half my height Ila. You two, get behind me."
Ila rolled her eyes but didn't stop him when he was the first to step into the cave. Hermione grabbed onto her arm as they entered. Within a few steps, their vision had darkened. Apart from the sliver of light coming from behind them, they couldn't see anything. Ila had to hold onto Ron so they wouldn't get separated.
SNAP!
"What was that?" Ila said, whipping her head around as if she could suddenly see in the dark.
"What?" Hermione said.
CRACK!
"That!" Ila muttered.
"It's probably nothing," Ron said calmly. "You're probably hearing - "
SNAP!
Even though he couldn't see her, Ila couldn't help but give him the 'I – told – you – so' eyes. "It's probably rats."
"Yeah, if they're the size of dogs!"
"Let's just keep going," Hermione said.
The three carried on walking. Ila wasn't sure if it was the cold or something else, but she kept on shivering. It was like something was crawling on her and her body was trying to get it off her.
Which made her cringe more.
As they were – what Ila assumed was halfway, the ground felt unstable. It must have been rocks or something. From holding onto Ron's shift to using the wall as a guide, she couldn't keep her balance for some reason.
"Ila, that's the fifth time you've stepped on the back of my shoe – cut it out!" Ron hissed.
"Oh I'm so sorry Ron, it's just that I can't fucking see where I'm going can I?" Ila grumbled.
"I thought we were supposed to be quiet," Hermione reminded the two. She looked back. The light from outside was barely a speck at this point.
"I keep on nearly falling," Ila said, leaning against a wall for support as she lifted her foot. "What do you think we're standing on?"
"Rat bones," a disembodied voice.
The three friends grabbed onto each other, pushing themselves against the wall as far as they could.
"That wasn't you two was it?" Ila whispered.
"We don't sound like old crazy dog men that have been probably trapped down here for centuries waiting to have their next meal do we?" Hermione replied.
"Thanks for making me even more worried now," Ila hissed back before clearing her throat.
"Who's there?" she asked, more afraid of the voice than what it had actually said.
"Who else would it be?" the voice asked before a sudden flame lit up a disfigured, smiling -
"ARRRGGGGHHHH!" the three friends screamed. Ron pushed Ila to the front, hiding behind her, clutching onto Hermione.
"What the fuck Sirius?" Ila shouted breathlessly, pushing Sirius away weakly.
Her godfather laughed in response before pulling her into a tight hug. Ila hadn't actually realised just how much she missed him until he hugged her. It had been almost a year since she last saw him in real life. She could see just how much he changed. And smell…
"Sirius, don't take this wrong way, but why do you smell like a wet dog?" Ila asked, breathing through her mouth.
"I'm wearing my best cologne to impress my goddaughter," Sirius said innocently, clutching her tighter. "Don't you like it? Doesn't it smell nice?"
"You need to get your money back," Ila said, who felt close to passing out.
Then, Sirus let her go, allowing her to catch her breath and made his way to Ron and Hermione, the former being so terrified, Sirius had to hug Ron, who was still crouching against the wall.
"Why did you ask to meet here of all places?" Ila asked, now seeing the true extent of the desolate cave as Sirius produced a flame. The entire cave was covered with webs, some empty, with just flies entangled in them and some that made Ron steer away from. Sirius led them through a narrow tunnel that had barely enough space to allow just one person through. With the ceiling so low that Ron had to crouch down and walls so close that they had to walk like Skrewts scuttling through, they had finally made it to the other side. "Ok…I now see why…"
The three friends were breathless at the sight of the cavern, that was filled with lights and Sirius's belongings. Hundreds of stalactites were floating from the ceiling with stalagmite erupting from the ground. Some had merged into each other, forming stable foundations in which Sirius had used to make a hammock. A large pool on the size of their Quidditch Pitch was nearby. Ila could also see a few of Sirius' clothes lying wet, waiting to be dried.
"It was the only place I knew I wouldn't get caught in," Sirius explained, beckoning them forward. "If I asked to meet at the Shack, someone was bound to follow you."
"How did you even find this place?" Hermione asked dazedly as she poked a stalactite to see if it was even real. Ron had already decided to make himself at home, jumping on Sirius' hammock.
"Oh back in my school days," he said rather quickly, walking towards the pool.
"Did you, dad and Remus come up here a lot?" Ila said, imaging three younger-looking boys planning out their pranks in meticulous detail.
"Er – no. Your father and Remus don't know about this place," Sirius said, getting his clothes and making his way back to the three friends, making sure his gaze was anywhere but to them.
"What do you mean?" Ila asked, unsure of why Sirius was acting so awkward.
He chuckled as he put his clothes up to dry near where the hammock was and where Ron was lazily swinging himself, starting at the stalactites. "Well, y'know – well I'm sure you won't know now, but when you guys get a bit older and you find someone that you really like and you want a bit of privacy - "
All three of them were instantly disgusted.
"YOU SEX FIEND! YOU PERVERT! MERLIN WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
"SIRIUS, WHAT KIND OF GODFATHER BRINGS THEIR GODDAUGHTER AND HER FRIENDS TO THE SAME PLACE YOU HAD SEX – MERLIN I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO THROW UP!"
"DON'T TELL ME YOU DID IT HERE?" Ron shouted, jumping off the hammock as if it was on fire.
"Er – yeah, it there and a bit of there" - Sirius pointed to the stalactite that Hermione had been inspecting – "and over there" – he then pointed behind him to the pool – "oh and there."
He had pointed to the entrance.
"Sirius!" Ila exclaimed so loudly, it echoed back. "This is not an appropriate Godfather thing to do."
"It's been years since anything's happened," Sirius said casually, though something told the friends not to believe him.
"What did you even want to talk about?" she asked, the feeling of leaving than staying overwhelming her.
Sirius took a seat on his hammock, raking a hand through his mane. "After reading your letter, I couldn't help but feel bad. It felt like I was lying to you and I'm sure that's the last thing you wanted…so I thought, any questions that you have about anything – I'll try my best to answer them."
"I wasn't supposed to sound angry," Ila said, quickly rushing to his side. "I was just curious than anything. And if anything, I was angrier at myself for not knowing…" She couldn't finish her sentence.
Unfortunately, everyone would question her.
"Er – not to break up this moment, but what exactly are you talking about?" Ron said.
Sirius looked up at her in confusion, which then made her confused. "You didn't tell them?"
Ila shook her head. "Was I supposed to?"
He glanced between her and her friends. "It's just – I thought you found out about what happened…from them…or at least you found out together…"
"Found out what together?" Hermione asked, moving closer.
"Who did you find it out from Ila?" Sirius questioned. Ila looked at the three of them, starting to realise that perhaps keeping her friendship with Draco from her actual friends wasn't the greatest idea.
"Remember when I told you about Malfoy?"
"About how he was working with Voldemort?" Sirius said, ignoring the sharp hiss from Ron and Hermione.
"Well, long story short, there's a chance that - "
"You're seriously telling me you believe him?" Ron said.
"We've had this conversation already, I told I don't entirely believe - "
Ron huffed, "He's manipulating you, Ila, can't you see that?"
"Ron he's fifteen, I'm sure he doesn't even know the meaning," Sirius said before turning to Ila. "What happened between then and now?"
"Well, I confronted him about everything and he vehemently denied that he was working with Voldermort before spinning it on me, asking if I knew anything about what He had done apart from what happened with my parents and anything that Dumbledore told me before telling me about what happened with you and Lauren…Dawlish…"
She wasn't sure if she was supposed to say that…oh well.
Sirius took a moment to digest everything Ila had said.
"You didn't mention anything about Sirius," Hermione said.
Ila shrugged. "You got the gist."
"What else did he say then?"
"He was talking about how members of Wizenmagot were disguised Death Eaters that threw Sirius in Azkaban," Ila said, unsure of Sirius's reaction.
"Is that true?" Ron asked him. "Malfoy's lying isn't he?"
Sirius shook his head slowly. "No – he's not…The day I got thrown in, my trial only last for no more than half an hour before they came to their decision."
"That's practically illegal," Hermione said. "How could a jury decide that quickly?"
"They don't have a jury," Sirius said, "they thought it would be a lot less fair if a bunch of random people who didn't know who you were came to that decision. The members of Wizenmagot hear your side of things before making the verdict. For the first fifteen minutes or so, I had to make my case myself and I was – for a lack of a better word – fucked. They had bought out witnesses who were there at the time and recounted a story about me doing everything. But there was something strange about them. They had this glaze over their eyes – it was like they were memorising something – it wasn't until I spent all my time just thinking about everything in Azkaban that I realised they were imperioused."
"And no one else seemed to notice?" Ila inquired.
"Barty Crouch – the one who's supposed to be running the tournament's head of Wizenmagot. He had already had problems of his own that he had to deal with."
"What exactly could he be dealing with that made him not do his job properly?" Ila huffed.
"Try having your son join Voldemort and having to throw him into Azkaban."
"I s'pose that's pretty tough," she replied quietly.
"What happened to his son?" Ron asked.
"From what I remember," Sirius said thoughtfully, "he got swayed by the Dark before he got caught…he got caught doing things with - er – kids."
"What the fuck!" Ron exclaimed.
"Apparently when he was on trial, he kept screaming that it wasn't his fault or something – obviously they didn't believe him and booted him to Azkaban."
"Did you ever see him?" Ila asked. "When you were in there?"
"Only a few times," Sirius said. "He ended up dying only a few years in. From what I remember he was really sick for most of the time."
"Who was there?" Hermione asked, who looked like she was on the brink of solving something but Ila wasn't sure what.
"At Crouch Jr's trial? Er – I think Dumbledore and er…oh how could I forget – Mad-Eye Moody. He's teaching Dark Arts isn't he?"
"Teaching's one word," Hermione muttered. "Why was he there?"
"He's the one who caught Crouch's son," Sirius explained. "Well – sort of. It was more Karkaoff – when they found him also doing similar things, he made a plea deal to give all the Death Eaters he knew, Crouch's son being one of them. It was an entire mess if you ask me. I remember Crouch being in the middle of a divorce by the time I had my trial. I s'pose that's why he wasn't paying attention as well."
"What happened next?" Ila said.
Sirius sighed, standing up from his seat and paced slowly. Ila wondered if she pushed him too far. She had already enough of her pushing people of the edge.
"Dumbledore came to the rescue," he said dazedly, his mind wandering back to that day. "He defended me better than I ever could. It got to the point where they had to vote. Crouch asked for everyone that didn't think I should go to put their hand up and then to those that thought I should go to put their hands up. It was 50 – 50. They had to do a revote." Sirius closed his eyes. "Crouch asked again. Who didn't want me to go to put their hand up…I remember seeing something out of the corner of my eye. One of the members was whispering something to the other. I-I don't know what it was but…that person put their hand down just before Crouch made the count. Then, he asked who wanted me to go put their hand. That member did…"
The three friends watched the back of Sirius carefully. He wasn't moving. Ron and Hermione nodded Ila to go up to him. She cautiously did, not wanting to frighten him. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder as she walked in front of him. He stared at her.
"The only people who really knew about what happened at my trial was me…and Dumbledore. That was the only person who could have gotten it from."
"What does that mean?" Ron said.
"He wasn't lying Ron," Sirius said, slowly turning around and making his way back to the hammock. "I mean obviously, that doesn't mean he's necessary innocent but – whatever he told you, it was true."
Sirius sat back down, Ron following suit. He put his head into his hands as he tried to come to terms with what Sirius had just said. Ila felt for him, knowing just how much her own mind was blown apart when she first had the revelation.
"So everything that you said in the library was true then?" Ron said to Hermione. "I really do have to be nice to Slytherins!"
That wasn't what Ila was expecting…
Ron laid back on the hammock, groaning and mumbling at the thought of talking to Slytherins.
"Sirius," Hermione started, "do you think it's possible to…well, to convince people that they're on the wrong side? The thing with Malfoy was that he was fed a lie about what actually happened during the Wizarding War. They were told about how muggle-borns and half-bloods were out to get purebloods first, they were only reacting in self-defence."
"I s'pose it's possible – I mean, if the whole reason why they hate muggle-borns was because of a lie, I'm sure if you find a way to make them listen…but that's the hardest part. They aren't going to listen."
"There's Malfoy," Ila suggested. "Why not use him as an example?"
"I doubt people are going to believe him, Ila," Sirius said. "If his father ever found out, he wouldn't care less about denouncing his son. Malfoy would lose all credibility…what's with these questions anyway? Planning to start a revolution any time soon?"
Hermione shook her head. "Something's coming – I don't know what it is but sooner or later, everyone's going to have to start picking sides. I'd rather fight with the Slytherins than against."
Ila clutched her gloves, trying her best to block at any visions of it. The box in her head was starting to rattle, something that she promised herself to not happen if she wanted to be sane for the rest of however many years she had…
Sensing the newly formed tension, Sirius decided to cut it –
"So what's going on with the Tournament? I heard you won the first task!"
"Er – yeah, no thanks to you either," Ila said teasingly. "If anything I got my help from…"
Ah yet again – her mistake of not telling her friends everything Malfoy had done had come to slap her in the face once again.
"You're not serious are you?" Ron said, sitting up. "You didn't tell us this!"
"Well, cos – it's not like you guys asked did you?"
Ron stood up, pointing his finger at her, "Don't start with that shit. You could have told us at any moment."
"Really?" Ila shouted. "You basically made fun of him for having a crush – how exactly could I have told you that without you constantly saying that he's trying to get into my pants!"
"Oh, ok let's calm down before we say anything else that we'll regret, alright?" Sirius said, quickly getting in between the two friends. "You know what, you two wait outside, while I'll have a chat with Ron."
"What for? I literally didn't even do anything – hmph!"
Sirius clamped a hand over his mouth while waving the two girls away.
"It's not even that big of a deal," Ila said as she and Hermione made out to the edge of the cave. It had stopped raining. "Is it?"
"If anything, it just added to the list of strange things Malfoy's done this year," Hermione said. "But I'm sure you knew that trying to convince us that Malfoy wasn't as bad was going to be the hardest with Ron."
"Yeah, but he's called you horrible names too."
"I try not to let it get to me," Hermione replied. "Ron…he has a temper and doesn't know what to do with it. He ends up wasting his energy on random things that don't need it."
The two girls went quiet, watching the village of Hogsmeade drain the rainwater away.
"When Sirius was talking about what happened – you, you had this look on your face," Ila said, motioning to her own.
"Oh it was nothing, it's just – the stuff he was saying about Crouch's son and Karakoff and Moody – I don't know…it didn't sound, right? I don't know how to word it?"
"What do you mean not right? You think Sirius got it wrong?"
"No, no, I think…I just remember – it must have been our first lesson with him, but Moody was saying something about Ministry officials setting people up and he got so pissed of the broke the chalk – why would he be so angry?"
Ila shrugged. "Maybe – maybe he was talking about Sirius. They might have known each other before everything."
Hermione didn't look convinced but couldn't push on it further as Sirius and an even angrier Ron came out of the cave. Sirius whispered one final thing to Ron who rolled his eyes and walked to the girls.
"Everything ok?" Ila asked them.
"Sorry for shouting at you," Ron mumbled. Sirius rolled his eyes at how insincere he sounded but Ila knew he meant it.
"Sorry for not telling you everything," Ila apologised. "Though, now that you know, I don't think…I'll drop it," she said after seeing the glare from him.
"I think I've kept you guys long enough," Sirius said, seeing the sun starting to lower. "C'mon, I don't want you guys to get detentions because of me."
Hermoine and Ron waved Sirius goodbye, the latter doing it grudgingly.
"When can I see you again?" Ila asked once the two were quite away. "Am I going to have to wait until the summer?"
Sirius smiled sadly, bringing her into a hug. "You can still send me letters y'know."
"But it's not the same."
"Listen," Sirius said whispering in her ear, "once I get everything sorted with the whole fugitive thing, I'll have a place of my own. Maybe even you can come live with me."
"You said that last time," Ila mumbled into his shoulder.
"Snape doesn't know I'm here," Sirius said. "Does he?"
"Not unless we get caught."
Sirius pulled her away, pushing pieces of her fringe out of the way. "You really are your father's daughter aren't you?"
"Everyone says I look like mum. I've got her eyes and everything."
Sirius looked over her face once more. "Nah – you're the spitting image of James." Ila could see tears brimming his eyes.
"Are you saying I look like a man?"
"No – no," Sirius said, his eyes widening at her accusation. Ila smiled, letting him know that she was joking. He pulled her in once more, relieved before pushing her away gently.
"I'll see you soon alright? In the meantime, keep me up to date with the Tournament."
"Will do! Bye!" Ila said, waving as she walked back. She kept on waving until she couldn't see him anymore. At that point, she checked her watch. She still had an hour until curfew. She needed to hurry.
"Listen, I have something to do," Ila said to her friends when she reached them at the bottom of the hill.
"What is it?" Ron said narrowing his eyes.
"Fine, I'm going to the Quibbler's office with Malfoy to see if we could find anything about the Sisters."
"Why're you going there?" Hermione asked before Ron could open his mouth and start another argument.
"That article you showed us, from the 'Kraziest Konspicaries' section. We thought to give it a try. Besides, it was this or go to Borgin and Burkes."
"Don't do anything with him, Ila," Ron warned.
She scoffed. "Is that what you really think of me, Ron?"
"C'mon Ronald," Hermione pulled him away before he could answer once again.
She wasn't that desperate.
Well…
"Took you long enough, you know we have to be back in an hour?" Malfoy said as he watched Ila running to him. He waited for her to get her breath. He waited and waited and -
"You ran for like 5 metres, how unfit are you?"
"I'm - I'm - merlin, I really need to start running," Ila said, collapsing against the wall.
"Yeah, yeah we'll start soon, but right now we need to be quick," he said, taking Ila by the arm and pulling her along.
The two walked into the village, towards the bookshelf. Now, to be frank, she was certain that the bookshops in Hogsmeade wouldn't have any books about Dark Magic, let alone anything to do with cults. She knew that they would have to go to Borgin and Burkes at one point, but as much as she wanted to trust Malfoy – she wasn't an idiot. With Voldemort back, Ila knew he was going to do something big to show to the entire Wizarding Society that they hadn't gotten rid of him yet. Knockturn Alley was a breeding ground for everything the Dark stood for. It would be a suicide mission if she went now. Perhaps sometime next year, when everything has died down around Voldemort and also when Malfoy has conveniently forgotten about it.
The sky was beginning to darken by the time they had reached the main streets. Thankfully, there weren't many people from Hogwarts that they recognised at Hogsmeade.
"45 minutes," Malfoy announced before they two headed inside the bookshop. There was no one in, only the man who owned the shop, who eerily watched the two students as they headed in different directions. The bookshop didn't seem massive on the outside but Ila found herself walking further and further, down the aisles of bookcases. When she reached a section that she seemed was relevant enough, she looked down to see the room never ended. She scanned the bookcases to see if anything would catch her eye.
Nothing.
She checked the bookcase behind her to find disappointment sinking into her stomach. Hopefully, Malfoy had found something useful. Not wanting to investigate any further into the strange bookshop, Ila headed out. She felt the eyes of the bookshop owner stay on her. Malfoy could deal with him by himself if something happened. She watched people walk along the street, no one really paying any attention to her. It was strange. She was practically famous in the wizarding society, and yet here she was, practically invisible. If only everyone could forget about her all the time. There was a wind picking up, making Ila wrap her jumper tighter around her. The sound of flapping made her turn around. It was a poster, half stuck to the window of the bookshop, advertising a local Quidditch game between two well known Quidditch teams. She would have to ask if Ron would want to see. Checking the dates, she saw it was going in the coming school year. She wondered if she had any time to see it. She'll be busy with her O.W.L.S next year.
Her insides clenched as the next thought appeared without her realising.
Will I even be here by then?
"You look like you're going to throw up," Malfoy said, leaning against the bookshop's door.
Ila cleared her throat. The box stopped rattling. Merlin, first with Sirius and now here?
"I'm fine" – she turned away from the flyer – "Did you find anything?"
"Do you see a book anywhere?" he asked, making her annoyed. He could really cut back with the comments. "We're going to have to go to Knockturn Alley."
Ila hummed in response, not really in the mood to think about it anymore.
Malfoy looked at her, before realising he should move to a different topic. He walked over to Ila. He looked at the flyer that she had been staring at. An idea suddenly popped into his head.
"I found that there's a main office in Hogsmeade. From what I remember it's at the end of the street. We can go and see if anyone can help before getting back," he said.
Ila nodded and started walking before realising that Malfoy hadn't followed her. She turned around.
"You go on," he said, waving her off, "I'll catch up." He went back into the bookshop.
Strange, but then again, she had to expect the unexpected with Malfoy.
The sun had completely disappeared by the time Ila had reached the office, leaving on orange and yellow remnants. She wasn't sure as to what she was expecting when it came to the Quibbler's office. She knew the magazine was more on the…quirky side and inferred that this quirkiness would come through into the buildings everyone worked at, but this office was definantly pushing the limits of what was considered quirky.
The entire building was worn down, struggling to get through its final years before having years of relaxation after demolition. Vines had entangled through broken windows. It seemed that those were the only things keeping the building up. There were many holes through the roof, parts of it on the floor. If there was even a breeze, it looked like it would knock the building down. There was a flashing sign to show it was one of the Quibbler's offices, but most of the lights for the letters weren't working so it was technically the UBLE'S office. Ila walked to the door, only to find it open already. She looked closer to find that there was no lock on the door. A loud creak followed as she opened the door slowly and she entered before a dull ring sounded to the workers that someone had entered. Before Ila could look around, a small man, only a few inches taller than her had appeared in front of her. For such a desolate building, he looked rather jolly to be working here.
"Welcome to the Hogsmeade branch of the Quibbler, I'm John. How may I help you?"
"Er - " Ila was still confused at his happiness that she completely forgot what she was supposed to be in here for. "I had a couple of questions about a certain section in one of your magazines – the 'Kraziest Konspiracies' one?"
"Ah, well, unfortunately, that isn't really my section, I'll just ship you off to Jodi – she's the one in charge of all that fun stuff," he said before walking into a narrow hallway, that lead to offices on either side. Perhaps John's cheeriness was all an act since all the other workers in each office looked worn-out too. Some were sleeping, other's were throwing things across the room, some were even crying. John saw Ila eyeing the offices and made a move to hurry her up.
"Now this is where our main room is, where everyone works. This is where you'll find Jodi," he said and opened a red door that lead into the large room, this time filled with multiple journalists. Each had their own tiny desk, that was filled up with papers, upon papers stacked on each. Newspapers, notes, anything that would have helped them find that winning article were all scattered on the floor. Ila couldn't see the wooden floor beneath.
"Jodi," John called out. No one had taken notice apart from a woman, whose head shot up from the large pile of papers on her desk. "This is...it must have slipped my mind to ask, but what was your name dear?"
Ila braced for the moment. "Ila. Ila Potter."
At this point, the entire room stilled, deeming their conversations not as important as what was just said. Everyone slowly found the owner of the voice.
Ila could hear a faint whisper of one of them telling their co-worker –
"She's a bit browner than what I thought she'd look like."
"I thought she was white!"
John must have heard too, and cleared his throat, silencing his employees. Jodi stood up and straightened her clothes. There seemed to be an air of jealousy as she walked up to Ila and introduced herself.
"I'm Jodi " – she stuck her hand and viciously shook Ila's hand – "I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you."
At this point, everyone seemed to snap back into reality. Ila was no longer the subject of interest, and everyone went back to their conversations. What must have been an intern shooed by one of the journalists nervously went up to Ila.
"Would you like some coffee or tea?" she asked.
She was definantly older than Ila.
"I don't really drink - "
"She'd prefer hot chocolate," Draco said as he entered the room. He didn't really garner the same reaction as Ila did, most people not even realising another person had entered. The intern nodded in response before scurrying off.
"Welcome to the Hogsmeade branch of the Quibbler, I'm John. How may I help you?"
"We're together," Ila quickly said. Malfoy raised a brow. "As in – as in we're not together in that way" – she chuckled nervously – "as in, we're together in the sense that -"
"We're here about the issue #23708 and the section 'Kraziest Konspiraces," Malfoy explained.
"That's rather specific," Jodi said, "it might take a while for me to find the article - "
Malfoy took the magazine out of his back pocket and handed it to her. "No need."
She was surprised but Jodi remained polite. "Right, what was it that you had questions about then?" She began to flick through that section. Once she did, Malfoy pointed to the last article on the right. Jodi looked at John, who seemed confused and followed his finger. His eyes widened.
"This one," Malfoy said, "the disappearance of Lauren Dawlish."
The sound of a mug crashing onto the floor and breaking into a million pieces, hot chocolate flooding the papers surrounding, as well the sound of a certain name, made the room silent once more, but rather than curiosity, it was dread.
"I'm afraid we cannot help you," the man said sternly, his jolly appearance disappearing with the silence. He took the magazine away from Jodi, who looked close to tears and snapped it shut. He shoved it to Malfoy. "Now, would the two of you leave?"
"It's important," Malfoy said, staring down the man. "We need to know who wrote in."
"I told you, we cannot help you," he said, starting to get angry.
"Malfoy," Ila whispered, tugging at his sleeve.
"The article's true, you know," Malfoy said in a low tone. "She was killed by the Sisters. The magazine was published right before the start of last summer. She was killed only a few weeks after. She's linked to things that you'll never understand. I know you can track down the person, so will you please help us?"
Jodi burst into tears, confusing the two students. She went back to her desk, where she was comforted by two of her co-workers. John's face turned red.
"I will not have you speak to me like that. I have asked the two of you politely to leave our office and you haven't listened. I keep on telling you that we cannot help you here. We don't even know what you're talking about. That section of the reader's conspiracies isn't meant to be taken seriously. Now, I will ask you once more to leave before I call the Hit Wizards involved. GET OUT NOW!"
Malfoy huffed before grabbing Ila and leaving the broken office.
"They clearly know something," Malfoy said after a while of them walking in silence, back to Hogwarts.
"You saw the way that woman cried when I mentioned Lauren. And, if they didn't know anything about it, they clearly wouldn't be that upset. And since he does know, doesn't he realise what he's doing by withholding information from us? Surely, he knew the danger that Lauren was in and what it entailed to investigate into the Sisters. They knew that they're real. They probably know that Voldemort is back too. Don't they get what they're doing if they won't tell us anything? Don't they know who you are? Are they that stupid? What the fuck is wrong with them?"
"I don't think I've ever heard you this angry about something before," Ila said quietly.
"This is serious Potter," Malfoy said before stepping in front of her. "Doesn't he realise the consequences of what he's done?" Malfoy's eyebrow seemed to twitch every few seconds. He seemed hunched, though she didn't know if it was solely because she was quite a bit shorter than him. His hands rubbed against each other. Ila watched closely. He was breathing quickly.
Ila had only seen him like this one other time. All the back in the summer holidays, the night of the Quidditch Cup Final.
"You shouldn't worry about it so much," Ila said calmly.
He scoffed. "I'm not getting worried."
She didn't say anything, only watching him. He shifted his weight to each foot. "You do know it's not your fault right?"
Malfoy's scrunched into confusion. "What are you talking about? Who said it was my fault? I never said that."
"You didn't have to," she replied. "It's written all over your face whenever you talk about your parents. It's not your fault that Lauren Dawlish died…Draco. It's not your fault that your parents turned out the way they did and you can't do anything about it. It's not your fault that you couldn't get that man to give us information and it's definantly not your fault if something happens to me. I'm my own person and I can look after myself….besides I have too many people caring about me," she added as an afterthought. Ila couldn't bear to look at him anymore, unaware of where that came from and decided to carry on walking, with or without him.
She took around ten steps before she heard him catch up to her. Merlin, since when, was she the wise wizard of wisdom? She could barely keep her own thoughts in control. Ans since when did she give advice to Malfoy? Well...she supposed there was no harm in doing so. After hearing about what happened to Sirius, surely by now Ila had to admit that perhaps her theory of him working with Voldemort was a bit...far out.
"What do I do then?" he asked. "I can't do anything else…you can't expect me to not care."
"But no one's expecting you to save the day either and fix everything," Ila said earneslty. "Whatever happens, happens…If we can't get information from that guy, it's not the end of the world -"
"If he doesn't tell us then - "
"Then what?" Ila asked, turning around and stopping him. "What is the worst thing that could happen?"
"…We won't know what the Sisters and Voldemort are planning and…something might happen and I don't know if I can forgive myself," he got quieter as he went on. He was truly trying to change for the better and for the longest time Ila wasn't letting him do so.
"Forgive yourself for what?" she whispered, though she had an idea what it was.
He looked at her, glancing at every bit of her face. She wasn't sure why. To check if she was alright? To read her thoughts?
"I know what it's like to not have a choice in things, Ila," he said, his voice barely louder than a whisper. "I don't care what happens to me. I mean nothing - I don't," he said sternly when Ila was about to open her mouth. "Not in the bigger picture. You're the one that has to do everything. And if something happens...yeah it might not be the greatest thing for the wizarding society but...I can't let myself just stand there knowing...knowing that you have no for you. No one to understand. I can't - I don't want to see you hurt. I don't - I've seen it before, where you're in your head, your thoughts - right before we went to the office when you were waiting, I could see it, Ila. I can see the panic on your face when you think about Him for too long. I want to help you, Ila. I don't want you to get hurt. Because I can never forgive myself if you do."
For the first time in years, he cared for someone that wasn't him. But for her. She wondered how long he must have felt this way. She clenched her fist at the thought of him watching her. She wasn't the greatest at hiding her emotions was she? It warmed her to know that he was there, thinking about her in ways she never thought anyone else would. It was a strange feeling. It was the same feeling that always formed whenever she was close to him. It had been happening more and more and she wondered if it would ever stop. Only because she never wanted it stop. She could bathe in the feeling for days upon days and know that nothing, not even Voldemort himself could shake her. Her friends never made her feel that way.
So why is it Draco that can only make her feel this way?
"I can handle myself well," Ila whispered, stepping closer to him. "I've gone against Him loads of times…dealing with a jealous Parkinson is much worse." He let out a small chuckle. "Besides, you should worry about yourself more…I've got a whole list of people watching out for Malfoy, but who's going to look out for you?"
Ila smiled gently before walking away, breathing out a silent sigh of relief. Merlin what was going on?
"Since when did you give out advice like that?" he asked, once he caught up to her again.
Ila shrugged, watching the castle come closer into view. "It only comes once in a blue moon, so use it while it lasts."
The two walked back in silence for most of the way. Perhaps she and Malfoy had more in common than she originally thought.
"So what do we now?"
"We'll find another way to find out that person," Ila said. "We'll have to try and find their main office. Any ideas how we're going to do that?"
"I know it's in London," he said.
"Yes, because it's not like London is the capital city and in fact a small village with barely any shops to make it count as one in the first place," she said sarcastically.
"Why did I ever apologise?" he muttered under his breath before saying, "I know that, I mean all we need to find is the specific address."
"And since your so full of ideas, do you know how we're going to do that?"
Malfoy rolled his eyes. He preferred sympathetic Ila over sarcastic Ila. "No."
"We'll figure that one out next year then."
The same thought appeared in both of their minds.
Ila might not be here next year.
Malfoy could feel the pair of tickets poking in his back pocket. They were close to the castle and soon the two would take their separate ways. He didn't know how long it would be until he saw her again. She would be too busy with practising for the Third Task and Malfoy didn't want to disrupt her. Also, seeing her practice was going to worry him, something she didn't want him to do. He just prayed that Dumbledore wouldn't give her anything too hard.
"Wait!" he said right before Ila was going to enter the castle's grounds. "There was something I need to give you."
"What is it?"
"I s'pose it could be a thank you for…whatever happened back there, but…er" – what was this? A Malfoy never gets nervous for anything, let alone when talking to a girl who was his supposed enemy turned 'acquaintance' – "I…I saw you look at it outside…"
Will he hurry up? Ila thought. She needed to get back soon. Not only was a curfew in a few minutes and she wasn't in the mood to get detention right before the Third Task, but she knew her friends were going to be antsy and wait for her arrival. Besides, standing next to Malfoy for too long and the wrong person might walk by at just the right moment.
"I thought…maybe to cheer you up" – he fished for something out of his pockets – "I…I thought maybe you would want to - "
Unfortunately, Malfoy never got to finish his sentence, as Ila's worse fears were about to come true if she didn't use the invisibility cloak to hide as her friends walked out of the castle and headed towards Malfoy and the now invisible Ila.
"Oi Malfoy! Have you seen Ila anywhere?"
"Ron, he isn't going to help," Hermione said, tugging him by the sleeve. "She's probably talking to Dumbledore. C'mon, curfew is in a few minutes."
Malfoy watched Ila's friends walk back into the castle and waited until he couldn't see them anymore before he went back to his conversation with Ila. He turned around, two tickets for the both of them to go to the Quidditch game she had been eyeing from that flyer ready in his hand, only to find that he was alone.
She had disappeared.